Training Teachers Online

What Training Teachers Online is

Training Teachers Online is a small online professional development provider for teachers in Christian schools. Its home page headline puts the idea plainly: it is "where Christian teachers get trained on their schedule." The About page says it "serves Christian school educators by delivering practical, high-quality professional development through flexible online learning," and its mission statement says it exists to give Christian school teachers "an opportunity to grow professionally through the use of online learning."

The About page also explains who stands behind it. Training Teachers Online is a subsidiary of TAKE TENN Publications, which the page describes as a publisher of Christian materials and products "that challenge teachers to grow professionally and students to grow academically." The address it gives is 602 Belvoir Avenue in East Ridge, Tennessee.

The reader here is a working teacher, usually in a Christian school, who wants professional development hours, personal enrichment or credit toward renewing a teaching certificate, and who wants to fit that around a full teaching week.

How the courses work

Every course is self-paced. The home page says the courses were designed with "the time constraints of a busy educator" in mind and "can be taken any time during the day or week." The FAQ adds that online study lets a teacher work toward professional development, personal enrichment and certificate renewal "in the convenience of your own home at your own pace." A teacher signs up, opens the course and works through it at whatever pace the school week allows.

The home page calls the courses interactive and says they "were designed by expert educational practitioners who will provide you with practical training that can be implemented in your classroom." Each course card names its author or instructor, gives a short description of the content, and states how many contact hours the course carries.

The FAQ sets limits generously. There is no cap on how many courses a teacher can take at once: "We do not place restrictions on the maximum number of courses that you can take at one time." A teacher who needs a block of hours before a renewal deadline can therefore run two or three courses side by side.

The course catalog

The home page shows three courses in detail, each priced at $149 and each awarding 30 contact hours.

Christian Philosophy of Education. Written for Christian school educators who want to understand how the Bible applies to the Christian school curriculum, and specifically to five subject areas: reading, language, science, mathematics and history. The description makes the course's central argument clear: "biblical integration is more than reading a Bible verse; it is teaching a subject from God's point of view." The activities ask teachers to analyze textual concepts, analyze Scripture, apply Scriptural truths to subject content and conceptualize academic and Bible truths together. This is the course most closely tied to the provider's mission, and it suits a teacher who is new to a Christian school and wants a framework for bringing faith into ordinary lessons.

Bible Doctrines. Taught by Mark Farnham, this is described as "a basic study of the foundational truths of the Christian faith." It covers the nature and method of theology, basic hermeneutics, the Holy Scriptures, the person of God and the person of Jesus Christ, then moves on to the study of man, angels, sin, salvation, the Holy Spirit, sanctification, the church, last things and apologetics. For a teacher who teaches Bible classes or leads chapel, it works as a structured doctrinal grounding.

Evidence-Based Literacy: The Science of Teaching Reading. Taught by Cathy Dotson, Ed.D., this course runs to 23 lessons and is open to both veteran and new classroom teachers. Its welcome text describes a community of educators dedicated to "ensuring every student becomes a confident, skilled reader." Unlike the other two, it is a classroom methods course rather than a theology course, so it is relevant to any teacher who teaches reading, Christian school or not.

The home page invites visitors to browse the full Course Listing for more. Between them, the three featured courses show the range: philosophy of Christian education, doctrine, and practical reading instruction.

Credit, certificates and approval

This is the part a teacher renewing a certificate will care about most, and the FAQ handles it directly.

Courses do not carry letter grades. Instead, "we award contact (clock) hours," and the number per course "varies and is listed on the course description page." Each of the three featured courses lists 30.

The FAQ is careful about how contact hours relate to continuing education units: "Contact hours and CEUs are not synonymous; however, most accrediting agencies view 1 CEU as the equivalent of 10 or 15 contact hours." It then tells teachers to check with their own accrediting agency for the exact conversion. That is a useful, honest note. A teacher should not assume a 30-hour course equals a fixed number of CEUs; it depends on who is counting.

On approval, both the FAQ and the About page say that all courses "are approved by the Tennessee Association of Christian Schools." That is the only approving body the site names.

When a teacher finishes, "You will receive a Certificate of Completion when you complete each course." That certificate is the document a teacher hands to a school administrator or a certifying body as proof of the hours.

Price and payment

The three courses on the home page each show a price of $149. The FAQ says payment "must be made by credit card (VISA, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express) at the time you register," so a course is paid for in full at sign-up. The home page frames the program as a way "to receive online professional training at an affordable cost."

Enrolling a whole staff

Schools are a second audience. The FAQ answers "Can I enroll all my teachers at one time?" with a yes: a school fills out the Contact Us form and includes "your school name, the number of teachers you want to enroll, and the courses the teachers will be enrolling in." That makes it practical for a principal to put a group of teachers through the same course as part of a school year's in-service plan. The site lists no separate group price, so a school's cost is arranged through that form.

Support

Support is simple. The FAQ says a teacher who cannot get into a course should "use the 'Contact Us' tab to send an email," and the About page lists the East Ridge mailing address and a phone number. For a small provider, email and phone are the channels a teacher has.

Who it suits

Training Teachers Online suits teachers in Christian schools who want low-cost, self-paced professional development with a clear record of hours, and particularly teachers in schools that recognize the Tennessee Association of Christian Schools. A teacher renewing a certificate gets a fixed number of contact hours per course and a Certificate of Completion. A new teacher in a Christian school can use Christian Philosophy of Education or Bible Doctrines to build a foundation for teaching from a faith perspective, and any reading teacher can take the evidence-based literacy course. School leaders can enroll a whole staff through a single request.

It is a narrower choice for teachers in public schools or in systems that do not recognize the Tennessee association, who would need to check with their own agency how the contact hours count. It also offers no live teaching, so a teacher who wants discussion with an instructor in real time will not find it here.